Friends
of the Rappahannock Success Story
Many
of you have probably recently read in the newspaper
about the removal of the Embrey Dam. Friends of
the Rappahannock is a VCN member organization and
we wanted to profile their success story.
When
FOR was formed in 1985, several of the founding
members were veterans of the fight against the proposed
Salem Church Dam on the Rappahannock in the 1960's.
The genesis of FOR came about with the participation
of business owners, politicians, and community members
who recognized the special heritage of the Rappahannock
River and its resources. It was right in step with
larger regional concerns about the Chesapeake Bay
and related programs to connect citizens with issues
in their own river basins. One of those concerns
was the decline in migratory fish stocks, such as
shad, herring, and striped bass. There are people
living today who have seen spring times in their
youth when the Rappahannock was so alive and filled
with fish that it appeared a person could walk across
the river on their backs.
FOR
recognized the single most important barrier to
productive fish spawning in the Rappahannock was
Embrey Dam. The removal of Embrey Dam became one
of FORs major goals.
In
the mid-1990's, a new city/county water deal made
it clear that the City of Fredericksburg's Cossey
water plant could be closed; the last remaining
major "need" for the dam was gone. At
that time FOR began a concerted advocacy program
with elected officials in the City of Fredericksburg
and Stafford County.
FOR
sponsored community education forums in partnership
with DGIF to tell the story of fisheries of the
Rappahannock and ongoing work elsewhere on Virginia
rivers to restore passage that had been blocked
by dams. FOR kept the visibility of fish passage
in the public imagination by working with the VaDGIF
to stage bucket brigades. For several springs, people
formed a line to lift and carry buckets of shad
and herring around and over the dam to continue
upstream to spawn.
FOR's
advocacy strategy at that point had 4 main goals:
To
educate the officials on the importance of migratory
fish and declining stocks in the Rappahannock and
in the Chesapeake Bay, the impediment that the dam
posed to migratory fish, and the economic / recreational
impacts that were associated with lost spawning
grounds.
To
explain how alternative measures, such as fish elevators
and other solutions, were not appropriate at Embrey
because of the large height.
To
explain the safety hazard presented by the dam,
and educate the officials on the engineering reports
that indicated that the dam was seriously deteriorating
and would eventually fail unless rehabilitated through
expensive construction.
To
understand the historic resources that would be
impacted by a dam breach or removal, and the City's
need for keeping water in the historic canal for
aesthetic reasons and to seek solutions that would
mitigate those concerns.
In
Stafford County and the City, FOR met with every
elected official, the directors of public works,
and the County Administrator / City Manager; some
several times. Communications were frequent. The
focus of the meetings was to ASK what their concerns
were about potential removal of the dam; to LISTEN,
and to seek needed information to move to the next
discussion and decision level.
FOR
made a list of all the concerns raised by the local
government officials and set out to get answers
to find ways to address all of the concerns.
Some
of the major concerns included:
•
Costs to localities
•
Maintaining water in the City Canal
•
Release of the sediment, potential downstream effects
such as flooding.
•
Release of mercury or other toxins that may be in
the sediment from upriver gold
mining operations.
•
Sedimentation of the City Dock/Ferry Farm area
•
Effects on water level at upriver intakes (Stafford)
•
Loss of flood protection in the City
•
Loss of sediment removal ability provided by the
dam.
There
were quite a few concerns and misconceptions about
the potential effects of removing the dam. After
gathering more information, FOR conducted follow
up meetings and phone calls with numerous officials
to help dispel those concerns. Slowly, as these
misconceptions were addressed, FOR began to see
a softening in response of local government leaders.
The main issues that remained were
•
Cost and funding sources
•
Keeping water in the Canal
•
Dealing with the sediment
FOR
initiated and coordinated two large meetings of
staff for key agencies and individuals that could
be potentially helpful or needed to be involved
with restoring fish passage. FOR member Marcia Keener
chaired the first meeting and recalls that "It
was surprising how many people we got around the
table from every possible angle on the vision of
restoring fish passage and how easily everyone became
known to each other and exchanged information that
contributed to the solution." Representatives
at the meeting kept the momentum at a fast pace
by sharing breaking information from their respective
localities or agencies during this stage of information-sharing
and trouble-shooting.
At
about that time, Sen. Houck, the architect of the
Rappahannock River Basin Commission, pushed forward
a bill that got the Commonwealth to conduct an Embrey
Dam feasibility study. Having already generated
a comprehensive list of the major issues of concern,
FOR played a major role in setting the agenda for
the study. When the VaDGIF "request for proposals"
for the Dam study was released, much of it was nearly
verbatim from FOR's recommended scope of work.
When
the Commonwealth's study was complete, it found
that complete removal of the dam was the least cost
option in the long term to achieve the goal of restoring
fish passage. FOR continued meetings with local
government staff to convey this point, and to emphasize
that the sediment issue and the issue of keeping
water in the canal could be addressed with engineering
measures.
Lack
of funding for dam removal was the last major obstacle
that all parties identified. Having found little
hope of obtaining the necessary resources from local
or state government, despite their support, FOR
began the effort to look for federal funding.
In
1996 FOR hosted Senator John Warner for a roundtable
discussion with its board and a fishing trip below
the dam. "As we fished below the Dam, it was
a great opportunity to talk one-on-one with the
Senator about the dam and the river. I'll never
forget what happened as we walked down the canal
road at the end of the day. He said to me, 'If you
all can demonstrate that there is community consensus
to take down this dam, I will take it on as a personal
project.' That was the turning point for Embrey."
- John Tippett, FOR Executive Director
Once
FOR could demonstrate that community consensus had
been achieved in support of dam removal, the Senator
acted quickly to arrange the appropriation of $100,000
for a Federal "Reconnaissance" Study of
the dam. The study concluded that there was "significant
federal interest" in the removal of the Dam.
In
a meeting at Brompton on the future of Embrey Dam,
Senator Warner asked the question "Is anyone
here OPPOSED to the removal of the dam?" A
silence followed. "Hearing no objections, the
only question is HOW we do it, not WHETHER".
The Senator's involvement crystallized local commitment
and began to build momentum for the project.
A
major potential obstacle, however, was the question
of LOCAL MATCH funding. Typically federal funding
for dam removal requires a non-federal match. If
the Corps were to be involved, upwards of 40% of
the total projected cost of $10 million would need
to be covered by state and local entities.
When
it became apparent that the local and state agencies
would have difficulty supporting the cost share
for the project, Senator Warner included language
in the Water Resources Development Act for the Authorization
of up to $10 million to be spent for the removal
of Embrey Dam, effectively waiving the non-federal
share requirement.
On
Earth Day 2000, FOR hosted Senators Warner &
Robb, State Sen. Houck, the head of the Norfolk
District Corps of Engineers, and a roomful of local
elected officials and dignitaries for a media announcement
on the plans to remove the Embrey Dam, with the
Federal government underwriting the entire cost.
This was nearly unprecedented for the Corps of Engineers.
FOR
worked to be a resource to the Corps during its
deliberations concerning how to address the sediment
behind the dam. FOR argued successfully for removal,
based on the goals of the Rappahannock Tributary
Strategy and potential for downstream impacts to
bottom-dwelling organisms.
Friends
of the Rappahannock has set the stage for a sustainable
river basin at every opportunity, speaking for the
many uses of the river and taking action through
example and partnership. The future of the fish
runs depends upon a clean, viable river as does
human enjoyment of the river's recreational amenities,
including the fish. There are many more chapters
to this story, including State Scenic River designation
for the Rappahannock that FOR achieved despite apparently
overwhelming opposition based on misconceptions.
The story of the ancient lineage of our native migratory
fish continues with the voice of people who have
recently joined the area and those who have yet
to speak about the importance of our Rappahannock
River heritage.
For
additional information contact :
John
Tippett
P.O.
Box 7254, Fredericksburg, VA 22404
phone: (540)373-3448, fax: (540)373-8111
cleanriver@pobox.com
Website: http://for.communitypoint.org/
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